Serum transferrin as a potential marker for prediction of prognosis for sudden sensorineural hearing loss: a prospective study

Clinically significant prognostic indicators have not been identified for sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL). Consequently, this research aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of iron parameters in predicting prognostic outcomes for patients with SSNHL. Ninety-one individuals with SSNHL were prospectively enrolled and received steroid treatment at a dosage of 1 mg/kg/day for two weeks. Baseline characteristics and iron parameters were collected from participants. Afterward, the pre-and post-treatment hearing of the enrolled patients was compared. The effective group, defined as those with a pure tone audiometry (PTA) improvement of impaired frequencies of ≥ 15 dB or restoration to normal/ unaffected ear levels。. In the entire cohort, the effective group exhibited a significantly younger age (p = 0.005) and baseline hearing level as well as transferrin saturation (p = 0.036) and higher transferrin levels (p = 0.002) in comparison to the ineffective group. Multivariate analysis identified age (OR, 0.931; 95% CI, 0.889-0.976; p = 0.003), the baseline hearing level (OR, 0.928; 95% CI, 0.894-0.964; p<0.001) and transferrin level (OR, 9.15; 95% CI, 1.838-45.555; p = 0.007) as independent predictors of treatment outcome. Higher transferrin levels were associated with an optimal outcome for SSNHL, however further research is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying this effect.